TY  - CHAP
AB  - Abstract The unglamorous leek is an everyday foodstuff in a British supermarket, but its meaning is constructed through the interplay of a range of non-human materialities including the plant, its packaging and its information dense labels. This chapter examines the variations in the ways in which leeks are marketed in different supermarkets, with a particular focus on how they can be traced back to their roots in British fields. We examine the ways in which non-human and virtual entities ‘bring to life’ the human producers of the leeks in a bid to mimic the reconnection that is sought through local food systems. We use the example of the leeks to explore what is happening to food supply chains, urban-rural connections and rural representations as farmers and retailers build new modes of working and as social media tools open up virtual access to the people growing our food.
VL  - 24
SN  - 978-1-78714-823-9, 978-1-78714-824-6/1057-1922
DO  - 10.1108/S1057-192220170000024011
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/S1057-192220170000024011
AU  - Kneafsey Moya
AU  - Venn Laura
AU  - Bos Elizabeth
PY  - 2017
Y1  - 2017/01/01
TI  - Consuming Rural Connections: Tracing Leeks Back to Their Roots
T2  - Transforming the Rural
T3  - Research in Rural Sociology and Development
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 221
EP  - 243
Y2  - 2024/04/24
ER  -